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Category: Bad Poets
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The madness of Ezra Pound
Jerome McGann wrote: “No English-speaking poet of this century has been the subject of as much biographical scrutiny as Ezra Pound.” Daniel Swift in the prologue to his biography of Pound adds that he was “the most difficult man of the 20th century”. Since so much has been written about him – which you are…
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The lyrical addict
Poet, critic and philosopher, Coleridge is perhaps the least known of the six major Romantic Poets despite having written two of the most famous poems in the English language. His poor reputation was slowly being reassessed before suffering again because of his horrible treatment of his wife. Is he a monster or misunderstood genius? Read…
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Andrew Marvell: lover or predator?
Traveller, tutor, diplomat and spy, Andrew Marvell, one of the finest poets of the 17th century, has seduced readers for almost 400 years. But the truth behind one of his most famous poem leaves us asking whether his carpe diem entreaty is fuelled by passion or manipulation.
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William Golding: the beast beneath the skin
William Golding spent his literary career exploring the savagery of human nature and man’s eternal struggle with good and evil. But was he a bad poet? And, even more importantly, is there any truth in his self-declared monstrousness?
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Gertrude Stein: Poet, Modernist… Fascist?
Gertrude Stein’s name echoes through the modernist canon – a self-proclaimed literary innovator, avant-garde poet and patron of the arts. She hosted salons that drew the likes of Hemingway, Picasso and Fitzgerald, and coined the term ‘Lost Generation’. Her legacy, at a glance, seems firmly entrenched in the cultural revolution of the early 20th century. But…
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William McGonagall, the World’s Worst Poet?
Ah, William McGonagall. A name spoken with equal parts bewilderment and fond mockery among literary enthusiasts. Best known (and worst known) for his bombastic ode The Tay Bridge Disaster, McGonagall has earned his place in history as perhaps the most famously terrible poet to ever put pen to paper. But is he truly bad –…